Urban Mongols

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

China's ethnopolitics are grounded in two contradictory philosophies that often give rise to competing policies: the upholding of the ethnic group as well as the individual's right to achieve prominence within the established social order. An individual's sense of ethnic belonging and national identification are affected by the degree to which these ideals—individual achievement verses group interests—are internalized. The issue of the relevant strength of Chinese nationalism as opposed to minority nationalism within a given group is largely unexplored territory. In this article, I focus on the various notions Hohhotian Mongols have about what constitutes ethnic integrity, proper friendship, styles of ethnic interaction, ethnic nationalism, multiple identification, and satisfactory historical remembrance. Specifically, I explore whether the criterion Mongols use to mark Mongolian identity changed with China's shift from an insular, work-unit redistributive system to a more fluid market-driven society.